teamEggers

Nikko, day 1

teamEggers, meet teamNikko.

These 2.5 hour train rides out of Tokyo and into the mountains are becoming Old Hat. I positive that jon and I take more weekend trips than anyone else I know, and definitely more trips into the Japanese Alps than any of our Japanese friends! I would kill for a train system like this going through the Willamette Valley, I tell you what.

Our first look, outside of the station:

I was a poorly behaved traveller and didn’t pack any snacks for my train ride.  When we got off, we were famished and we stopped at the first ramen restaurant we found.  Thanks to Will’s great literacy skills, he can recognize the word!

Honestly, I had high hopes.  Too high.  Too easy to be let down, I suppose.  I love wontons in my soup. I love egg in my soup.  So why was my garlic-soy sauce ramen so disappointing?  Well, check out the layer of garlic chunks and fat floating on top.  Meh.

But onward and upward, shall we?  We’ve got temples to see! Hotels to check into! This may be vacation, but jon’s a wicked slave driver when it comes to getting places on time.  Go, go go!

First stop in Tour de Nikko was the famous bridge. It’s supposed to be one of the most unique bridges in all of Japan. There’s lore associated with it, a tour, you have to pay to walk on it, etc.  Needless to say, I was expecting more than this:

I mean, it’s pretty. Don’t get me wrong but….

…And we’re on with our adventure.  What is that adventure, you ask?  Glad you did.  It’s the World Heritage Tour! Part of me loves it when things are easy.  It makes it more vacationy.  Adventure is for the rest of your life?

Luckily (for the length of this post) things seemed to close up very early ’round these parts, and we were only able to take in one temple today.

It was a compound though!  This place has mucho historical cred – built in 1602 (even though the history of the temple goes back to the year 766!) and somehow managed to avoid the laws saying that there needs to be separation between temples and shrines (buddhists and shinto). Because this was so uncommon, it’s especially neat to see imagery from the two co-mingled.

Now would be a good time to show you an example of that, but I don’t have any pictures handy.  What I do have is this lovely one of jon and I.  Look moms, here we are!

I leave you with a teaser.  Because there’s much more dragon in our adventure, yet to come.

Nagi (Ramen)

In an unassuming building on the other side of Shibuya station, we find Nagi.

No. That’s not entirely true. Ramen Adventures found Nagi. I just found the trail of the Adventure.

Speaking of the Adventure, these ramen blogs are ruining me. Last weekend in Nikko, I had what (two months ago) I would have thought was perfectly fine ramen. But since then, having experienced some of the finest noodles in the city, my perspective is skewed. I’m spoiled by preemo slurpage.

Now when I say that Nagi was *really good*, you know where I’m coming from. But the best? That spot, my friends, is reserved for the extraordinary Bassanova. (Special thanks to Keizo at Go Ramen for both being so hospitable when we’re there, and also for having such a killer ramen blog.)

But back to Nagi. This location in particular is known for their strongly flavoured fish-broth based soup. It tasted rich, like a little old man stewed fish heads overnight. I was worried that it would be a bit too… challenging of a flavour for some of our friends that night, but everyone seemed really impressed by it. hurray!

But never mind the ramen. The gyoza was the shining star of Nagi that night. I remember thinking “my god, this is the best gyoza I’ve ever had, ever”. The filling was moist and very flavourful, the wrapper was perfectly seared-crispy but not soggy on top. I couldn’t believe it. … Until I walked past the kitchen and saw the guy that was making them. Making them. Not “dumping them out of a frozen bag onto a grill”, but pounding out the wrappers into little circles and mixing the fillings.

Ah, the secret. They’re handmade. Packaged foods can’t hold their ground against “made with love”.

Tune in next time: I found another kitkat!! (Oh, and we had an amazing weekend in Nikko last weekend, which I’m excited to tell you about!)

Nikko Bound

We’re heading up into the mountains again this weekend.  For not being as nature-adverse as I am, we sure do go up into the mountains a lot. Nikko’s a quick 2-hour jaunt outside of Tokyo, full of temples and shrines.  It’s an old town and I expect to have a lot a historical pictures when I get back. I’m excited!

One of the shines houses a Benzaiten statue.  (Remember how I love her?  She’s my patron saint of design. Huray for intermingling cultures.)

In other news, Dana arrived last night. I’m looking forward to spending some time with her! Welcome to Japan! Also, I wanted to throw out the offer of postcards again since I’m winding down my list from last time.  If you’d like one, send me your address!  (grimord at gmail . com)

Train Station Roulette

I’m thinking about starting a new game that I’m calling Train Station Roulette. It’s easy to play, but challenging to win. Challenging for me, at least. I’m sure jon will be great at it.

Here’s how you play: Ride the Yamanote line and get off at a random stop. Find at least one great thing about that part of town. It could be a really cool photograph, a bar, a ramen shop… you get the idea. The game’s over when you’ve made it to all the stops around the loop.

You’re disqualified by: throwing tantrums because you’re lost, or generally irritating your travel partners because you’re cranky & tired. Because remember; if you pizza when you should have french-fried, you’re gonna have a bad time.

What makes this game a challenge (for me) is that it will require patience, spontaneity, and dedication to the cause. Like I said, I think jon will be a shoe-in.

Barraca – Yokohama

I found a place in yokohama to get sparkling wine and paté. This might not excite you, but for me, it was the silent apex to an already cool day.

After watching the F. Marinos rock their soccer-ness earlier in the day, we headed back to Yokohama for some drinks and eventual dinner. I recognized Barraca, the Italian sister to the Spanish Bar that I love so much (Chabola in Motomachi), and convinced the group that we should give it a go.

They have a fantastic patio table that was great for watching passerby, and also for not disturbing the serious diners with our giggling. (That’s Dave, to the right of Jon, and Will’s friend-of-a-friend Phillip?)

This is Julie. Julie is quickly becoming a regular guest on the teamEggers show, and we’re happy to have her. She can match me bite-for-bite and is always up for trying something new. Oh, and she’s hi-lar-ious.

I’d love to come back to Barraca to see how they do with a more serious dinner (and not just snacks). They just might be the shining star in the otherwise shoddy Japanese-Italian dining sphere. Which is to say… they didn’t suck. And my other experiences with Italian food here haven’t been… good.

(For those of you in the area, Barraca is located on the Isezaki pedestrian street, near Kannai Station in Yokohama)